----- Original Message ---- From: Kevin Kearney To: Passagemaking Under Power List <passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com> Sent: Saturday, November 15, 2008 7:11:42 AM Subject: [PUP] PPM, Round Tails, Big Rudders >The design question is--- is how well the boat surfs with a round tail, narrow tail or squared tail? I have a round stern trawler. I have never been in perfect storm conditions so I cannot comment about those conditions. I have been in conditions with seas approaching 20 feet. I find in those conditions, I can leave the boat on autopilot and experience yaw of about 3 degrees as the wave train passes from astern. The boat will surf to some extent but with no loss of control or any tendency to bury the bow. I have no idea how my boat would behave in more severe conditions. I do carry a large drogue off the stern for lying ahull. I would much rather expose my rounded stern to following seas than my bow. BUT, I have never had to do this, so I cannot comment specifically how well this works. >The relative merits of swim platforms in following seas, the aft underwater profiles that make a boat semi-displacement vs >displacement and the size of rudders. I do not have a swim platform. I have not missed one. I have boarding gates port and starboard for easy boarding from either a dinghy or a dock. My rudder is about 36" tall and 24" wide. It works fine. >Methinks that flattened aft hull help put a boat up on plane, that wide flat transomes help interior space but can lead to broaching, and >that small rudders offer less control at slow speeds than larger rudders. You are correct. A round stern can lead to pinched interior spaces toward the stern. Patrick Willard 40PH ALOHA La Paz, MX